


The Day She Died

by protectchatnoir



Series: Cold, Alone [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Gen, Major character death - Freeform, Prequel, and it's not really shippy, but umm it's angsty, coz it's... a little bit angsty haha, the only important character is Marinette, this is probably kinda.. um... sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 11:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13481037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectchatnoir/pseuds/protectchatnoir
Summary: The day she died was a day like any other, and a day like no other; it was a normal day- and yet, it ended sooner than it should have.Sometimes you just shouldn't make promises you can't keep.





	The Day She Died

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise in advance
> 
> So I assume if you're reading this you've already read Old Habits Are Hard To Break, and if not, don't worry! This will make sense on its own (I'd probably recommend reading the other one first tho)
> 
> This is the accompanying piece to Old Habits Are Hard To Break; I didn't really plan to write this, but a lot of people wanted to see what happened, so I thought a kinda prequel thingy would be cool. It was a lot harder to write than the other one, but I did have lots of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Obviously read at your own risk coz of the major character death n all (it's not horribly graphic or anything but it could be upsetting I guess? Idk)
> 
> Enjoy :)

When dawn broke that morning, she had no idea that this day- her fourteenth birthday- would be the day she died.

 

It was a morning like any other; sun forcing its way hrough mildly threatening grey clouds- otherwise, nothing bad, nothing terrible, no warning, nosign of danger, and nothing remarkable about the day in general. Other than it being her birthday, of course. Her grandmother was supposed to be visiting, but she hadn't been able to make it- something about a cancelled flight, or similar. Perhaps her friends had planned her a surprise birthday party?

  The thought brought a smile to Marinette's face as she got out of bed and pulled her clothes on. Before heading downstairs to see her parents, the bluenette stood on her balcony for a while, admiring the view, remembering the evening visits from Chat Noir over the past few weeks. 

 He'd stop by almost every night, sit on the railings and talk to her about anything and everything. He'd declare his love for Ladybug, and she'd gush about Adrien until midnight rolled around and she went inside to get some sleep.

  It was hard, hearing him talk about Ladybug- hard not to tell him the truth. That it was her. It was _her_ , all along. But she couldn't. Their identities had to stay secret; maybe one day he'd find out, maybe years from now- but not yet.

 

Lost in her thoughts of Chat, Marinette barely noticed her kwami trying to talk to her. 

 

"Marinette!" Tikki demanded. "Are you even listening? I have a birthday present for you!"

 

Blinking in surprise, Marinette turned to properly look at Tikki.

"Really? Aww, Tikki, you shouldn't have!"

 

The kwami beamed and coughed up a glowing ball of saliva into the girl's hand.

Marinette grimaced. "Oh. You shouldn't have."

 

The glow faded away, revealing a small red pendant. 

 

"Don't you like it?" Tikki asked, disappointed. 

 

"Oh, no, it's great, I love it, I... what it is?"

 

"It's a kwagatama! A special gift passed from kwamis to holders throughout the generations!"

 

Marinette smiled. "Thanks, Tikki, it's awesome!"

 

So, all in all, the day wasn't _too_  unusual. But then- oh, then, her parents just _had_ to go and give her a pair of earrings as a birthday gift.

 

As soon as she'd come downstairs, her mother handed a her a small box. 

"Here, open this!" she'd exclaimed as she handed Marinette the box.

 

Marinette opened it slowly, dread filling her stomach. They were lovely, really- dangling turquoise crystals which resembled droplets of water- but it was just a little inconvenient. If her parents wanted her to wear these earrings, she'd have to take out her miraculous- ergo, no Ladybug. _Great_.

 

"Do you like them?" her father asked. "Put them in!"

 

The bluenette laughed nervously and slipped her miraculous into her pocket before putting in the new earrings from her parents.

 

"Oh, they match your eyes perfectly!" Sabine gushed. "They look beautiful, honey! You'd better go now though, Alya will be waiting for you. She wants to meet you in the park!"

 

Before she left, Marinette went back upstairs to replace her earrings in their box. 

"I'm sorry, Tikki," she whispered. "But I'd hate to disappoint my parents; they'd probably be upset if I didn't wear their gift. I'll be back in a few hours, I promise!"

 

She'd kissed the little kwami on the head before shutting the box, and leaving the bakery.

 

* * *

 

When she arrived at the park, none of her friends were there. It was empty, in fact, apart from a few people walking their dogs. Marinette collapsed on a nearby bench, feeling rather defeated. If Alya wanted to meet her here, then where was she? 

 _Birthdays are supposed to be fun,_ she thought, dejected. 

 

The bluenette turned her phone on to check for messages; there were none. Flipping to her contact list, she tried to ring Alya, but the call went straight to voicemail. A noticfation popped up telling her that there wasn't much power left, so she slipped it back into her pocket.

 

 Feeling defeated, Marinette stood up and started walking back in the direction of home. But- why should she go back home? It was her birthday, and birthdays were supposed to be fun. So Marinette decided she would take a walk instead. 

 

After walking absent mindedly for a while, Marinette found herself in a part of the city that she didn't recognise. She spun a full circle, trying to get her bearings. Had she been here before? Perhaps as Ladybug, on a night time patrol with Chat? But the streets looked different in the daylight, and it was hard to tell.

 

Feeling slightly panicky, Marinette pulled her phone out of her pocket. It had no power. 

 

She groaned and span around again. Maybe she could ask for directions? Or she could just turn around and go back the way she'd come. But she hadn't really been paying attention, and after spinning around a few times to try and figure it out,  she'd completely lost track of where she'd come from. Had she come past the school? 

 

She couldn't remember. 

 

 _Why do I have to be so forgetful?_ Marinette though to herself, and picked a direction to walk in at random. 

 

For another few minutes she walked, until she found herself standing on the edge of the river. Marinette blinked in surprise. How had she ended up here? Well, at least it would be a little easier to navigate her way back home now. A few people walked along, glancing anxiously at the grey sky.

 

And then, of course, because things just had to get even worse, it started raining. Marinette sighed, wishing she'd brought a coat; the river bank quickly cleared of the few people who had been walking there before as she stood on her own. The best option was probably just trying to get home; but the rain made it difficult to distinguish things, and it would be pretty difficult to find her way now. 

  Feeling utterly miserable, Marinette sunk to the floor and sat down. The ground was wet but she'd given up on caring.

 

A sudden rumble of thunder in the distance, and she remembered the day she'd met Adrien- the day she'd fallen in love with him. Oh, how she wished to see him now. She wished she could see any of her friends.

 

Adrien, who she loved with all her heart.

 

Tikki, who would always be there for her.

 

Alya, who was the best friend she could ever ask for.

 

Chat Noir. Every time he came to visit her, it made her feel a little better; even when she'd had a bad day.

All these wonderful people in her life whom she rarely stopped to think about and properly appreciated. She definitely didn't let them know just how much she loved them enough. 

 

 _In the future,_ she thought to herself, _I'll tell them. I'll tell all of them how much I love them, as often as I can._

 

Tears formed in her eyes, soon running freely and merging with the rain which also made its way down her cheeks.

 

Marinette would give anything to have even one of her close friends with her right now. But as soon as she made her way home, she would find them.

 

With newfound determination, she wiped the tears from her eyes. She would find her way home, and find her friends, and everything would be fine. 

_I'll find my way home if it's the last thing I do._

 

Marinette scrambled to her feet. But she lost her footing. And suddenly she was falling.

 

And then it was _cold_.

 

 

It engulfed her like an icy blanket, holding her down. She failed her arms wildly, trying to get away from it- but that only increased the panic rising in her chest. 

 

"Help!" she cried feebly, not loud enough for anybody to hear.

 

It didn't matter.

 

There wasn't anybody to hear her anyway.

 

As she came back to her senses and stated thinking clearly again, Marinette realised that she was in the water.

 

Which was fine. It probably wasn'tvery deep. She could swim.

 

But the cold was so overpowering, and everything in her body told her to fight it. So she kept flailing her arms and kicking her legs wildly, desperately trying to stay afloat.

 

She kept fighting. Until her limbs grew tired, and numb, and she couldn't fight it anymore. 

 

When Marinette's head slipped under for the first time, she thought of her parents. Her friends. All the people who mattered to her. Praying she would see them again. 

 And then she was back up again, gasping for breath, trying to stay afloat somehow.

 

The second time she went under, she remembered Ladybug. And Chat Noir. All the times they'd spent together. 

 

And then she was out again, and breathing- and then back under, and suddenly breathing in water, and she wanted to cough and splutter and breathe air again but she _couldn't_. And then her limbs were far, far too heavy, and she felt herself sinking. 

 

The last thing she thought of was Tikki. 

 

The earrings; the little box on her desk.

 

The promise she'd made before leaving.

 

_"I'll be back in a few hours, I promise!"_

 

And then... and then the cold and the numbness became too much, and she couldn't remember what it felt like to have air in her lungs, and she felt herself sl

   i 

 

          p  

  p in    

   g

 

aw

     a

  y

 

 

and then everything was peaceful. 

 

And quiet,

 

 

 

and dark.

**Author's Note:**

> And still so cold.
> 
>  
> 
> T_T I'm going to go lie down
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Well, I hope you liked this! Any reviews are 1839% appreciated, and I'm @protectchatnoir on tumblr! :)


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